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ForMin Odobescu: There is an intense political dialogue between Romania and Ukraine at all levels
Romania and Ukraine are discussing intensively, at political level, in all areas, Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu said on Friday, mentioning the ongoing negotiations on the Strategic Partnership and the Security Agreement.
"There is an intense political dialogue between Romania and Ukraine at all levels. You have seen the recent discussion between President Iohannis and President Zelenskyy, the discussions at Government level, at minister level. I have a dialogue, I would say weekly, with my Ukrainian counterpart. We are negotiating two important documents, the negotiations are progressing on the Strategic Partnership document, which is a complex document and covers many areas - because it is a complex bilateral relation, with multiple areas - and this arrangement or Security Agreement, which will be finalised in the coming period," said Minister Odobescu, who participated on Friday in the informal meeting of foreign ministers of NATO member states, held in Prague.
She mentioned that the content of the Security Agreement will be public when it is signed.
Luminita Odobescu also added that an important objective is the start of EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.
"Romania's position regarding support for Ukraine is clear. We have supported and will continue to support Ukraine multidimensionally, as long as necessary, bilaterally. And here I am talking about everything from the training centre for F-16 pilots to the support for grain transit - an extremely substantial support and appreciated by our partners - to the support in the energy sector, in the humanitarian area. All these aspects will be covered by these documents and, obviously, the support at European level. Our interest and our objective is to officially launch accession negotiations by the end of June and to have the intergovernmental conference with both Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova," the head of diplomacy pointed out.
In this context, the Romanian official said, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed the planning of a "more robust and predictable" support framework for Ukraine.
"Essentially, these proposals by the NATO Secretary General aim at assuming a greater role for NATO in coordinating security assistance and in coordinating the training process, and at adopting a multi-year financial commitment to ensure the predictability of the support we allies provide to Ukraine. This is substantial progress," added the Foreign minister, adding that the objective is that this package be adopted at the Washington Summit.
During the same meeting in Prague, the subject of strengthening the allied defence and deterrence posture through the implementation of the decisions made at the Vilnius Summit, aimed at providing all the elements, from military forces, equipment, logistical support necessary for the implementation of regional defence plans, was discussed.
"As far as NATO and the Washington Summit are concerned, our interest is to have a very clear message for both Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens regarding Ukraine's NATO accession process," said Minister Luminita Odobescu.